


A Series of Romantic Poems

by Ellienerd14



Series: With love (Tanlove) [1]
Category: Class (TV 2016)
Genre: Bi Tanya, F/F, Fluff, Love Poems, Poetry, Tanya and Clove geeky flirting, lots of friendships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-09-24 04:22:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9700979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellienerd14/pseuds/Ellienerd14
Summary: "You write poetry? That sounds cool.""It's just couplets. I'm not like Oscar Wilde or anything." Still Clove smiled, hidden by her curly hair. "And poetry isn't cool anyway.""Hey, poetry is very cool. I had a crush on Isadora Quagmire when I was little."-Tanya doesn't like Valentines Day... until she does.





	1. A Series of Shy Smiles

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry if this is all kinds of sappy.

"I still don't get this holiday." Charlie looked at the decorations their English teacher had stuck in the hall the same way a scientist might look at an experiment. (It really was easy to see he was alien sometimes.) 

"Me neither." Tanya wrinkled her nose at the pink heart. "And I don't have the same ET excuse as you." 

"ET?" Charlie asked. "Like the movie?" 

"You've seen the movie?" Tanya asked. 

"April gave it to Quill 'ironically'." Charlie looked confused at his own explanation. 

Tanya asked a question before he started googling. He was the only person who was willing to wait with her for their next class. "Didn't Matteusz explain it to you?" 

"When he told me I thought he was making it up." Charlie answered. Tanya rolled her eyes. "Matteusz likes to joke." 

"Your eyes are going to match the hearts in a minute." Tanya didn't usually mind the fact all her friends were coupled off. But on Valentines Day, it was almost too much to take. Surprisingly April and Ram were even more sickening; Miss Quill had put them on different sides of the classroom when she got tired of them. 

"Maybe-" 

"Hi Tanya!" Charlie was cut off by one of Tanya's old classmates. 

"Oh, hey Clove." Tanya hadn't kept in contact with a lot of her old classmates after joining sixth form and she hadn't been that close to Clove in the first place. She hadn't been close to anyone really and when saving the world, making friends her own age was the least of Tanya's problems. 

"It's been a while." Clove didn't keep walking as Tanya would have expected. She glanced at Charlie who was on his phone. "English isn't the same without you." 

Tanya could remember sharing a desk with Clove; it was probably why the girl seemed familiar. "If you thought Miss Oswald was a weird teacher, you should meet Miss Quill." 

"Didn't she throw a stapler at the Ofsted inspector?" Clove asked, grinning. She had cute dimples. 

"Oh yeah." Tanya laughed. "Not even the weirdest thing I've seen her do." 

"Sounds wild." Clove ducked her head and tucked her red hair behind her ear. 

"You have no idea." Tanya smiled back at Clove. They had gotten on quite well last year, although Clove had her own group of friends. 

"I guess that's what you get for skipping to A-levels." Clove looked up from the floor and met Tanya's eyes behind her hipster glasses. She hadn't worn them last year but they suited her. She was just as shy as before. 

"You're clever too." 

"Not as much as you." Clove smiled and ducked her head again. Her bright hair covered her face. "I mean I write poetry but it's not that good and-" She trailed off. 

"You write poetry?" Tanya asked in interest. "That sounds cool." 

"It's just couplets. I'm not like Oscar Wilde or anything." Still Clove smiled, hidden by her curly hair. She looked up at Tanya again. "And poetry isn't cool anyway." 

"Hey, poetry is very cool." Tanya had practically forgotten Charlie was there, too caught up with Clove. "I had a crush on Isadora Quagmire when I was little." 

"You had a crush on a book character?" Clove laughed (it was a pretty laugh). "You are incredibly cool." 

"Is that a joke?" 

"No." Clove shook her head quickly. "I mean it. And I loved 'A Series of Unfortunate Events'. Although my crush was on Klaus." 

"I guess that makes you incredibly cool too." 

Clove smiled again, the kind that gave her the dimples that made her cheeks look like apples. (Tanya wasn't poetic.) "I guess so." 

The bell rang before they could finish talking. 

"Tanya?" Clove asked. 

"Yeah?" 

"I- I'll see you around." Clove hurried off in the direction of the maths department. She glanced at Tanya as she left, their eyes meeting again. Clove half-waved before disappearing in the crowd. 

"She seemed nice." Charlie commented. Tanya jumped, she had forgotten he was still there. 

"We were friends last year." Tanya paused. "I think." 

"Who's got heart eyes now?" 

Tanya didn't bother with a reply. Of all the times for Charlie to tease her. It wasn't like Tanya had a crush on Clove anyway. She just happened to be a pretty, intelligent girl with eyes clearer than the sky. 

(She still hated the pink hearts. No cute girl was going to change that.) 

 


	2. A Series of Annoying Friends

Tanya didn't notice the card till the end of the lunch. She had been hiding out in the canteen with Charlie and Matteusz because Ram had started calling April 'sweetie' and it was painful to be in their presence.

At least Charlie and Matteusz knew how to be subtle. Tanya liked hanging out with them, she never felt like a third wheel.

"I thought you didn't like Valentines Day?"

"I still don't." Tanya said stubbornly.

"Then why is this," Charlie gestured to Tanya's backpack which had a pastel coloured heart taped to it, "on your bag."

"I didn't put it there." Tanya picked up the heart with the tips of her finger, as if the pinkness was infectious.

"Maybe it's from a secret admirer." Matteusz suggested, pulling it off her bag and inspecting it. 

"Or," Tanya took the card back, ignoring his smug look, "it's a joke." 

"Why would it be a joke?" Charlie asked. Tanya hoped he wasn't being completely clueless today. 

"To mess with me." Tanya answered. She didn't like the way the boys were looking at her. "Which they might do." 

" _Humans_." Charlie muttered to himself. Tanya pretended not to hear him - like Miss Quill and battle cries - it was sometimes best to just ignore the weirder things they said. 

"Whoever sent it left a note." 

"Not a note." Tanya said, smiling despite herself. "A poem." 

"Heart eyes." Charlie smiled at himself and then at Matteusz. Tanya left them to their little moment and looked at the poem. It was only a short one, with just two lines, but the handwriting was looped and pretty. 

**_'People like roses because they are pretty,  
_ ** _**but I like you because you're witty.'** _

"That's cute." 

"It's not polite to read over someones shoulder." Tanya would have glared at Matteusz but she didn't want him to see her smile. 

"It is cute though." Matteusz repeated. "And you're smiling." 

"I am not." Tanya protested. She _was_ smiling but that didn't mean he was right. 

"You are." 

"I am not." 

" _Humans_." Charlie repeated with a little sigh. 

"How would you feel if we said 'Rhodians' every time you spoke?" Tanya asked. It was a genuine question but would hopefully distract Matteusz so she could figure out the poem by herself. 

"I imagine it would lead to fighting over breakfast making anyone not alien uncomfortable as they tried to eat." Matteusz answered. Tanya raised an eyebrow. "Miss Quill is very similar." 

"That was one time." Charlie looked a little offended. 

Matteusz waited until his boyfriend wasn't looking and then mouthed, "five." 

"Can we go back to Tanya's note?" 

"Do we have to?" She asked. 

"It is interesting." 

"I should have stayed with April and Ram." Tanya grumbled. She tucked the poem into her pocket where she could study it in private later. Something about that poem seemd familiar and she needed to figure it out. 

 


	3. A Series of Sweet Poems

"Another note?" Tanya would have thought she'd see someone so tall coming. But Matteusz had managed to sneak up on her before she could hide it. 

"Maybe." 

"Maybe means yes." Matteusz grinned down at her. "And you're smiling again." 

"I'm in a good mood." Tanya crossed her arms and tried to stare him down. It didn't work. 

"Because of the poem?" Matteusz asked, as if he already knew the answer. 

"Where's Charlie?" 

"The fact you changed the subject shows I'm right." Matteusz said. 

Tanya pretended he wasn't right. The poem was just as sweet as before. 

**_'I'm far too shy to say,  
but seeing you makes my day.'_ **

Whoever was sending it (Tanya didn't want to think of them as a secret admirer yet) was making Tanya's day. It was hard not to feel like the awkward friend when all her friends were older and there was a big gap between seventeen and fourteen. (An even bigger gap with Ram who was eighteen. He could drive and she wasn't even old enough to go to the Cinema with him.) Someone noticed her and they had thought of her while writing poetry. She just wished they weren't so shy, it would nice to thank the person to their face. 

"Do you think it's a joke?" 

"The only person who thinks it's a joke is you." Matteusz replied. 

"I hope not." Tanya admitted quietly. 

"Tanya?" She was surprised to see Clove again, expecting their conversation yesterday to be an one off. "Um, yeah hi." 

"Clover!" Clove's friend caught up with her, hooking their arms together. "There you are." 

"I was just saying hi to Tanya." Clove told her friend, one of the shorter girls from Tanya's old class. Mia, if Tanya remembered correctly. 

"Oh," Mia nodded in Tanya's direction, "hi." She turned back to Clove. "James needs your help with English, since you're so good at-" 

"Sure." Clove interrupted. She caught Tanya's eye and ducked her head in the same way she had yesterday. With her hair in a bun, she couldn't hide her face as well and Tanya noticed her pink cheeks. "See you around then Tanya." 

Clove let her friend drag her down the corridor, turning to wave goodbye before they turned the corner.

"Someone's popular." 

"Just a few girls from my old class." Tanya shrugged. "Clove talked to me yesterday too." 

"Maybe she likes you." Matteusz suggested. 

Tanya shook her head. "Don't be getting any ideas pretty boy. We're just friends." 

"April and Ram were just friends at first. Now they're dating." 

"What about you and Charlie?" 

"Love at first sight." Tanya wasn't even surprised. 

"Of course." Tanya looked down at the heart shaped paper in her hands. "I wonder who's sending this." 

"Someone who likes you obviously." Matteusz grinned again. "And you like them?" 

"I don't even know if it's a girl or a boy who's sending it." Tanya paused and the added, "or even someone non-binary." 

"Who would you want it to be?" 

"I don't mind." Tanya answered, although a certain shy girl came to her mind. Clove seemed to have taken an interest in her recently. "But they seem sweet." 

"It's only a few days till Valentine's." Matteusz said, his accent making the word sound strange. "Whoever it is will probably reveal themselves then." 

"You think so?" 

"Makes sense to me. The notes start a week before." 

"I hope so." Tanya admitted. "I'd like to meet them." 

"Two poems and you're in love." 

Tanya let out a short laugh. "Not in love, just _intrigued_." 

"That's the first sign." 

"Shut up." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the Class fandom, 'intrigued' means super gay for you and I think that's beautiful.


	4. A Series of Nerf Bullets

With only two days left till Valentine's Tanya was starting to worry Matteusz's teasing had some truth to it. He and Charlie had been relentless with the jokes and even Ram had detached himself from April's side to join in. They'd even scared off Clove who had broken into the sixth form centre to talk to Tanya again. She seemed less shy this time. 

But whoever who was writing Tanya the poems was doing more than just intriguing her. Tanya wanted to know who was behind them. It was hard for her to focus on Physics, which was her favourite lesson. (It was the only one they all had together.) 

"You showed up." Miss Quill sounded mildly disappointed as if she was hoping to return to an empty classroom. How she got hired was a mystery that even Tanya's genius couldn't figure out. 

"Yes miss." 

"Fantastic." Miss Quill stormed in, dropping her bag loudly on the desk. 

"You okay miss?" One of the braver boys in the back asked. 

"There's too much pink," Miss Quill spat out the word, "in this school." 

"It is a holiday." 

Miss Quill looked less than impressed. "We are here for physics, not for hearts." 

"Because that's biology?" The same boy asked. 

"I am not paid enough for this." Miss Quill rummaged though her bag and pulled out a gun. Charlie stiffen for a moment before her realised it wasn't real. 

"Miss why-" The question was cut off by Miss Quill firing a bullet in his direction. Tanya and Ram had to duck to avoid getting in the crossfire. 

"If you talk in my lesson, I won't hesitate to shoot." Miss Quill looked pleased at having a weapon she could use. Tanya figured the slavery bug allowed children's toys. It probably wasn't Miss Quill's ideal way to carry out her ' _I am war itself_ ' life motto but it seemed to satisfy her. 

The classroom fell into silence, Miss Quill scrolled though her iPad with one hand and silenced the occasional whispering with a Nerf bullet. While it probably would get her fired, it was surprisingly effective; it was the quietest the class had been all term. Tanya took notes from her textbook but found it harder to focus when the latest poem was at the back of her mind. 

It hadn't been as traditional as the other ones. It was more of a riddle then a poem. 

 ** _'I admire your high IQ,  
while wishing I could be your I.Q.'_** 

As another plastic bullet flew though the classroom and hit Ram on the head, Tanya wondered if it was worth risking another look at the poem. 

"I don't understand-" Tanya's whispers caught Miss Quill's attention who aimed the Nerf gun and fired. It hit her on the shoulder. 

"Ow." 

"I was just starting to like you Miss Adeola." Miss Quill said. "You're the only one with any brains." 

"Thanks." Tanya muttered sarcastically, wondering whether or not to roll around on the floor claiming to be dying. It might please Miss Quill actually. 

"I would shoot you again but I'm saving my final bullet." Miss Quill pointed the gun in Charlie's direction and sighed. Plastic or not, it seemed unlikely she could get away with shooting him. "Put away that heart." 

"I knew it." Matteusz whispered to her. 

"Finally."Miss Quill looked pleased as she shot the last bullet at the Polish boy. 

"You can't do that!" Charlie protested. 

"Charles." Miss Quill sighed. "I did." 

Charlie sighed back and frowned. He looked a little sulky, which didn't suit his regal nature very well. Matteusz seemed fine, despite taking a bullet to the head. 

The classroom fell back into silence despite the fact Miss Quill had no ammo left. Tanya finished her work quickly, although the rest of her classmates seemed to still  be struggling. (It was easy for her.) 

There was an even faster rush for the door than usual at the end of the lesson. Tanya held back, collecting the bullets scattered around the room. She placed the pile on her teachers desk. 

"I expected better." 

"I was kinda distracted." Tanya admitted. "Where did you get the Nerf gun?" 

"Year sevens." Miss Quill answered simply. "What was distracting you? Plans for another protest?" She sounded quite hopeful. 

"Just a poem." Tanya answered. 

"A poem?" Miss Quill sighed again. "Boring." 

"Someone's writing me them." 

"Oh," Miss Quill looked back down to her iPad, "the ones which that girl is taping to your bag."

"You know who's sending me them?" Tanya asked hopefully. "And it's a girl." 

"Is that going to be a problem?" Miss Quill asked. "You humans are so picky with your mates." 

"No, it's not." Tanya tapped the table. "Which girl?" 

"What fun would telling you be?" Miss Quill smirked. "Hurry along Miss Adeola, your friend is waiting." 

Tanya looked out the door expecting to see Charlie or Matteusz. However it was the same pretty red head that had been on her mind lately that was waiting there instead. 

"Clove?" 

"Tanya." Clove twisted a lock of already curly hair around her finger. "I was waiting for you." 

"I noticed." Tanya grinned. "Hi." 

"Hi." 

"Hi." Tanya giggled and a second bullet hit her arm. "We should probably go." 

"So that was the infamous Quill?" Clove asked. 

"In the flesh." 

"She seemed," Clove seemed to be at a loss for words, "something." 

"I like her." Tanya replied. "Or fear her. I can't tell the difference." 

Clove laughed prettily. "You are brave." 

"Thanks." 

"I thought, that maybe we could walk home together." Clove suggested. "Since we got interrupted earlier." 

"Sounds cool." Tanya was glad her crazy friends hadn't scared Clove off. "You could help me, maybe." 

"With what?" Clove asked. She wasn't avoiding Tanya's eye this time and was standing up straighter. 

"I have a secret admirer." Tanya started, too preoccupied with pulling out her latest poem to notice Clove's momentarily panicked expression. "A girl, who writes me the sweetest poems. But I don't get this one from today." 

"What don't you get?" Clove asked. She was holding onto her backpack tightly, like she was holding herself back too. 

"This last bit." 

"While wishing I could be your I.Q." Clove read out loud. 

"I'm lost and you're smart."

"Not as smart as you." Clove smiled. "Maybe she's making a reference to something."

"To like, anime?" Tanya sighed. "Still lost."

"Me too." Clove agreed hastily. "It's sweet though."

"They- no she, made me like poetry." Tanya smiled at the paper and then tucked it into her dress pocket with the other short poems which had somehow won her heart.

"True love." Clove joked. She straightened her school skirt, looking down again.

"Don't do that." Tanya said, pulling Clove's hand away. "You shouldn't look down all the time."

"I get a little nervous."

"That is no excuse to hide your pretty face." Tanya let go of Clove's hand. "Same with your hair. It's beautiful but it's not there for you to hide."

"You like my hair?" Clove asked, tucking it behind her ear.

"It is pretty." Tanya realised that crossed a little too late.

"Thank you." Clove looked up and smiled; a subtle curl of her lips.

"But so is your face so don't hide." Tanya definitely crossed a line but Clove didn't seem to mind.

"Sometimes it's just easier to hide." Clove twirled her long hair thoughtfully.

"You shouldn't."

"I'm working on it." Clove promised. "Do you really think I'm pretty?"

"Yes!" Tanya may have been slightly too loud; the aliens on the other side of the rift could probably hear her. "Yes."

"That means so much to me." Clove's face dropped. "This is me."

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, yeah." Clove took out her key and sighed to herself, watching Tanya continue down the road. Once she was inside, safe from the risk of being overheard she sighed again louder. "While wishing I could be your Isadora Quagmire."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow what a plot twist! Wow saw that one coming?


	5. The (happy) End

"You two are too invested in this." Tanya said, eyeing the couple waiting her out by her locker.

"Well, it is Valentine's Day." Charlie said, as if it was an excuse to be too invested in her love life.

"So shouldn't you two be snogging somewhere?" Tanya asked. For the first time that week, she was hoping they'd act more like Ram and April.

"This is more interesting." Matteusz answered. "We've invested a whole a week."

"You're weird." Tanya sighed and pulled the heart from her locker. It was heavier this time, with a chocolate taped to the back.

"Sweet." Matteusz smiled, "quite literally."

"I guess." Tanya pocketed the chocolate for later, noting it was her favourite kind. She was more interested in the poem. Possibly her final poem.

'You are perfect to me,  
A word that here means, the best girl for me.'

"Isn't that a reference?" Matteusz asked, reading over her shoulder. Tanya didn't bother protesting. (She had tried yesterday and it had resulted in Matteusz holding it over her head. Goddamn Polish Giraffe.)

"Yeah, to ' _A Series of Unfortunate Events_ '." Tanya traced the cursive writing. She still didn't know who it belonged to but it seemed familiar. "You've read the books?"

"We watched the show." Matteusz shrugged. "Cause Quill thought it sounded like her kind of program."

"Well, it does have 'unfortunate' right there in the title." Tanya sighed. "This doesn't help me though."

"Isn't that the series with the poet?" Charlie asked.

"You've read the books?" Tanya asked.

"No." Charlie shook his head. "But you and Clove were talking about it last week."

"Me and Clove…" Tanya's voice trailed off as she realised why the handwriting seemed so familiar. "Me and Clove!"

"Yes?" Charlie looked confused.

"You're a genius!" Tanya hugged him quickly and then pulled away. "Clove!"

"That red head girl is your poet?" Matteusz asked.

"I think so." Tanya picked up her bag. "I need to go find her."

* * *

Clove and her friends were sitting in the history corridor. Tanya was out of breath by the time she reached it but all the running seemed worth it when she saw Clove. She had her tied into a neat plait and a leather jacket over her school uniform.

"Clove?" Tanya stepped forward, hoping she didn't look like a mess. "Can we talk?"

Clove's friends exchanged looks while the red head stood up.

"Yeah, of course." They stepped into the first empty classroom that they found. "What is it?"

"Are you the one who wrote the poems?" Tanya asked, pulling the collection of poems and the caramel out of her jacket pocket.

"I-" Clove hesitated and then nodded. "Yes." She admitted quietly.

"You like me?"

"I had a crush on you all of last year." Clove admitted, looking up. The same bright green eyes that had caught Tanya's attention in the first place were meeting her own. "But I didn't say anything because you were way out of my league even before you got moved up two years."

"You're the one out of my league."

Clove blushed but still kept looking up. "I didn't think I had a chance but when you mentioned your old crush I thought maybe I could try. And I'm a poet so…"

"You made me like Valentine's Day." Tanya took a step towards Clove. "And hearts and love poems."

"Is that good?" Clove asked, fiddling with her glasses.

"It is." Tanya moved Clove's hands away from her face and into her hands.

"I've never had a girlfriend before." Clove admitted. "Or a boyfriend."

"Me neither." Tanya looked down at their hands and smiled. "But I really like you Clove."

"I don't know where to start." Clove looked down at their hands too. She had painted her nails white and they were bitten. Tanya didn't seem to care; she held her hand like it was precious.

"We start with talking. Maybe coffee?"

"I like coffee." Clove smiled.

"My treat." Tanya insisted. "You gave me poems, let me give you a latte or whatever."

"I'd like that." Clove agreed.

Tanya took a risk and kissed the girls cheek. It was warm (Clove was blushing) but it felt natural.

"We can walk home-"

This time Tanya wasn't interrupted by her friends or by a Nerf bullet. She was interrupted by Clove pulling her by the jacket and kissing her chastely on the lips.

"Is that okay?" Clove asked, turning from pink to red. "I thought it was okay but-"

"It was okay." Tanya interrupted. "Really okay. It was a 'wow' actuality."

"Wow." Clove repeated to herself. "So you aren't cancelling coffee?"

"Not even an alien invasion could cancel coffee now." Tanya promised.

"Really?"

"Really." Tanya took Clove's hand again. "Can I say something possibly cute but also possibly corny?"

"I insist."

 _"Roses are red,_  
Violets are blue,  
I really like you."

Clove giggled. "That is cute."

"You thought it was good?" Tanya asked. She was no poet but for Clove, she'd try.

"Well I wouldn't go _that far_." Clove laughed again. "Coffee?"

"Coffee." Tanya kissed Cloves cheek again. "I'll be counting down the hours."

* * *

 

**Bonus: I made a[Clove Aesthetic](http://bazwillendinflames.tumblr.com/post/157251304479/clove-mood-board-her-and-tanyas-valentine-fic)**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what book series I've been rereading. 
> 
> I have put so much time into this! (It's almost 4000 words long!) So please let me know what you thought of Clove and of Tove/Clanya.


	6. Fan art

I now have fanart of Clove, which is so exciting! Thank you so much @timeneverforgets (tumblr) aka @CloOm (Ao3). 

****[LINK](https://bazwillendinflames.tumblr.com/image/164025347284)

[REBLOG ON TUMBLR](https://timeneverforgets.tumblr.com/post/164025235933/clove-from-the-series-with-love-by)

**Author's Note:**

> I don't see a lot of Tanya centred fics and I felt like she needed it.  
> Also if you like Clove, let me know and I'll try and include her in any future fics.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Young and menace](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11090400) by [gleek_runner](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gleek_runner/pseuds/gleek_runner)




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